Adjustable knife-blade holder.



PAT ENTBD SEPT. 13, 1904.

H. E. BRITTON.

ADJUSTABLE KNIFE BLADE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

\A/WNEEEEE- UNITED STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ADJUSTABLE KNIFE-BLADE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,725, dated September 13, 1904;.

Application filed March 1,1904.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, I'IORACE E. BRIT'ION, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stoughton, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Knife- Blade Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to knife-blade holders or handles in which the blade is adjustably held between a pair of trough-shaped sheetmetal jaws which are adapted to slide longitudinally within the handle, each jaw having an inclined projection on its outer edge bearing against the end of a slot in a ferrule at the front end of said handle whereby as the jaws are drawn down by means of a nut and screw they are tightened upon the edges of the blade to hold the same in place within the handle. These inclined projections on the jaws have heretofore been produced by cutting with a special die from a sheet of metal a blank having on its opposite edges two rounded projections forming when the blank was doubled longitudinally upon itself a projection on the open or grooved edge of the jaw; but as this projection was required to be on the outer edge of the jaw it became necessary to use a second die, by which the metal forming the projection was driven or forced over to the opposite edge of the jaw, so as to lie on its outer or folded edge. lVith this method of construction there was a considerable waste of stock in cutting the blanks from a sheet on account of the projections on its opposite edges, which, together with the extra time and labor required to change the position of this projection, materially increased the eost of manufacture.

Hy invention has for its object to simplify the construction and reduce the cost of the jaws by forming the blanks for the same from narrow strips of sheet metal having parallel sides throughout their entire length and without the before-mentioned curved projections at their opposite edges, thereby saving the cost of one die, said narrow strip after being doubled or folded over upon itself having a simple depression formed at the required point, whereby the desired inclined or curved Serial No. 196,093. (No modelprojection is produced on the outer edge of the jaw with a corresponding concavity on the inner side or edge of the same, the chopping knife or cutter by which the blank is severed from a long narrow strip at the same time slitting its rear end to enable-it to be turned up as required to connect it with the operating-screw, by which the jaws are tightened upon the knife-blade.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a knifehandle having its jaws constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a central section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central section of the same, taken on a plane at right angles to that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. at is an enlarged transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view of one of the blade-holding jaws. Fig. 6 is a plan of the blank from which the jaw is formed.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the shell or body of the handle having a central longitudinal aperture (1 and a metal ferrule 0 at the top provided with a narrow slot (7. On each side of the aperture 1) are slots or grooves f, adapted to receive the trough-shaped or channeled jaws B B, which are adapted to receive the edges of the knife-blade I), as shown. The lower portion of the handle is recessed at 10 to receive the screw E, consisting of a solid cylinder provided with a slot 16 for the passage therethrough of the lower ends of the jaws B B, which are split and turned up on opposite sides, forming ears 18, which extend over the lower end 15 of the screw E, whereby the latter is slidably connected with the jaws. The lower end 20 of the handle is made of a separate piece which abuts against the bottom of the main portion of the handle and has immovably secured within it a cylindrical shell 21, having an interior screw-thread, which iits the exterior thread of the screw E, whereby as the end 20 of the handle is turned the screw E and the jaws connected therewith are drawn down in the ordinary well-known manner, causing the inclined or curved projections g at their upper ends to be moved against the end walls of the slot (Z of the ferrule 0, thereby causing the jaws to be compressed against the edges of the knife-bladeD to hold it firmly in place within the handle after it has been drawn out therefrom to the required distance.

I will now describe the manner in which the jaws B B are made with their projections g and turned-over ears 18, which forms the subject of my present invention. The blanks 22, one of which is shown in Fig. 6, are cut from a long narrow strip of sheet metal of equal width throughout its entire length, the chopping-knife being formed to split or cut one end, leaving two portions which when turned up at right angles on opposite sides form the ears 18 of the jaw, as shown in Fig. 5. After being cut the blank is doubled or folded over longitudinally upon itself to form the channel 23, and a depression 24, Fig. 5, is then formed by means of a suitable tool or die, leaving the curved or convex projection g on the outer or folded edge of the jaw with a corresponding concavity on the channeled or opposite edge, after which the split ends are turned up at a right angle to form the ears 18. In making this depression the side walls, as well as the bottom of the troughshaped jaw, are equally drawn down, leaving the cross-sectional shape of the jaw uniform throughout its entire length. By this construction the die heretofore used for cutting out the blanks is dispensed with, thus saving its cost, and if any slight change should be required in the shape of the projection 9 it can easily be efiected by making the projecting portion of the tool or die removable and substituting one of the proper shape, whereas with the old construction any change of form required an entire new die for cutting out the blanks.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a grooved jaw'for knife-blade holders formed from a strip of sheet metal with parallel sides throughout its length doubled or folded over longitudinally upon itself, and having a depression near its front end forming a convex projection on its outer or doubled edge and a corresponding concavity on its inner edge.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a grooved jaw for knife-blade holders formed from a strip of sheet metal with parallel sides throughout its length doubled and folded over longitudinally upon itself, and having a depression near its front end forming a convex projection on its outer or doubled edge and a corresponding concavity on its inner edge, and having its inner end divided and turned up1 at right angles to form ears on its opposite s1 es.

Witness my hand this 23d day of February, A. D. 1904.

HORACE E. BRITTON.

In presence of P. E. TESCHEMAOHER, A. B. 06m 

